The Boy In the Boat
by TheChildishCreator
Summary: After his parents are lost at sea in a vicious storm, a young boy is left adrift in the vast ocean. In his challenge to survive and return to land, he becomes master of the oceans... and its Pokemon. Chapters 1 2.
1. Chapter 1

**PRELUDE**

The boat crested yet another intimidating freak wave. Twenty-feet walls of icy water that threw the tiny vessel into the air. The vicious winds whistled and rang in the ears of the crew, and the blackest of skies crackled with strikes of lightning.

 _The Mantine_ 's crew was a family of three: Albert and Elenor Arnston and their eight-year old son, Hector, as well as Albert's machop, Funa. It was the family's fishing boat that had been passed down through the Arnston's generations of fishermen, and in all those years, it had never seen a storm like this.

Hector, shivering from the icy spray and the adrenaline, stood at the wheel, attempting to avoid the huge walls of water as they rose up from all directions.

Huddled sobbing in the corner of the cabin was Eleanor, holding Hector in her arms. He was paralysed with fear, wide-eyed and unmoving.

On the deck was Funa, frantically scooping out water with a bucket, helplessly but obediently. As more water crashed over the side of the boat, Funa was flung across the deck, slamming into the barrier on the other side of the boat.

Albert let out a pained cry from the cabin, seeing Funa unconscious and being slowly submerged in freezing water. He bolted from the wheel and out of the cabin ready to withdraw Funa to his Pokeball.

"No!" Eleanor screamed after Albert. "It's too dangerous, leave him!"

In panic she made after Albert to try and drag him back into the cabin. Hector watched on in horror, still frozen in fear.

There was then an eye-burning flash of bright lightning and an explosive rumble of thunder. Albert looked through the front window of the cabin.

The sky was gone, all he could see was one huge tower of water.

He heard through the chaos his mothers scream as the massive wave crashed over the top of the boat, tore through the roof of the cabin and submerged Hector in to darkness.

 **1**

Hector spluttered violently, sea water pouring from his mouth. His ears rang, his head throbbed and his arm was stinging from a deep wound. He rolled over onto his back and looked up at where the ceiling of the cabin used to be. It was replaced with a pale orange dawn sky, with a few wispy clouds scattered across it.

 _The Mantine_ , heavily damaged but miraculously still afloat, now bobbed gently on a calm sea. Weak and frightened, Hector called out for his mother, father and Funa, but with no reply. He called again and again and again but still nothing. With great pain he forced himself up onto his feet and looked out around him.

The cabin roof and most of the walls had been torn off. Fishing nets and boxes were spread around the deck. And around him, nothing but a flat, blue, empty ocean. He tried again to call out but there was still no answer.

Hector slowly made his way down the stairs to the deck, his hands starting to shake and lip starting to tremble.

"Mom! Dad! Funa!"

He still called, still looked about him, out into the ocean, but he knew they were gone.

Hector was alone.

Stranded in the middle of the ocean, who knows how far from land. He certainly couldn't see any.

He sat himself down on a fishing box and wept, knowing that this is where he would die, crying himself to sleep.

Hector was awoken by a loud thud. The boat rocked. Slightly dazed and with his eyes adjusting to the bright sunlight, he picked himself up from the floor of the deck where he had fallen asleep.

There was another, louder thud, and the boat rocked again, almost throwing Hector off his feet.

He cautiously peered over the port side. Nothing.

Then from behind him, a huge jet of water shot from the surface with a loud _whoosh_ sound. He scurried over to the starboard side to investigate, only for the boat to be knocked again, making him slip and fall. He carefully crawled over to the side of the boat and peeped over into the water.

A huge beady black eye stared straight at him from the surface. Hector yelped in astonishment and pushed himself away from the edge. His heart pounding, he once again cautiously looked over the side.

There, floating next to _The Mantine_ and probably twice the length, was an enormous wailord. Hector had read about these giant creatures in his fishing books back home, but never had he seen one in the flesh.

The wailord nudged the boat again, making Hector lose his balance. Then everything he had read in his books came flooding back to him. Ships had been lost from wailords breaching over them before, and there were tales of whole crews being swallowed by its huge mouth, being pulled down thousands of feet into the depths.

But the beast did nothing. It floated alongside the boat, it's eye kept firmly on Hector. He dared not move in case it decided to bump into the boat again and capsize it.

For hours, Hector remained on the deck, eyes fixed with the huge creature.

Finally, as the sun began to set the wailord drifted away. Half relieved, half mesmerised, Hector wearily collapsed on the deck, huddling behind fish boxes and covering himself in netting for warmth. It was going to be long and cold night.

As the sky turned dark, with his stomach growling and his eyes full of frightened tears, Hector drifted to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

Hector was awoken by a loud thud.

It was back...

He threw the netting off him and stumbled wearily to the edge of the boat. There it was. A big beady eye peering at him, the wailords huge body stretching away beyond the end of the boat. There was a glint in the beasts eye, not of the morning suns reflection, but of something quite unexplainable. It was almost... Inviting.

Hector cautiously stretched his hand out over the side of the boat and left it a few feet above the surface. The wailord raised its massive head out the water and brushed its slimy skin across Hector's palm, clumsily rocking the boat at the same time.

He felt a massive surge or excitement, and an urge to dive into the water with it. He realised, however, that there would be no way back onto _The Mantine_ if he did; the sides were too tall to climb back up and there was no ladder.

It was a ridiculous idea, crazy. Another ship must pass by soon and see _The Mantine_ floating here.

But he had nothing. No food, no water, no energy, no shelter. Despite his youth, Hector knew that he wasn't going to make it. Who knows how far out to sea he may be...

Still the urge nagged and nagged at him, to jump, to plunge into the cold ocean. He was a strong swimmer, sure, but he was exhausted, with no land in sight. And what about the wailord itself, it could easily turn round and devour him whole...

But despite all this, he found himself creeping towards the edge.

He found himself lifting a leg over the side.

He was sat there, feet dangling above a fifty-foot wailord and an endless ocean. The beasts eyes were still fixed on him, coaxing him, inviting him in.

Bracing himself for the extreme cold of the water, as well as the possibility of being eaten alive, Hector took one long breathe, and pushed himself away from the side of _The Mantine._

He splashed into the water, shocked by the temperature and the realisation of what he had just done. He frantically clawed his way through the water towards the wailord, which now looked impossibly enormous now they were on the same level.

Much to Hector's surprise, it stayed calm, still floating next to the boat and not even flinching as he grabbed hold of it to keep himself afloat.

Shaking uncontrollably, he shuffled his way down towards the head, and now looked into a deep black eye from inches away, stroking the top of its head as he did so. It still gave him that almost friendly stare.

In desperation to escape the freezing water, Hector clambered up the wailord to sit on its back and get most of his body above the surface. He didn't know how it would react... But it let out a huge jet of water from it's blow-hole and began to swim away.

Hector's heart raced; he was riding the biggest creature in the sea, with a warm sun thawing out his upper body. He let out a small cry of excitement and a smile crept across his face. For a moment he forgot he was hungry, forgot he was exhausted, forgot he was alone.

He turned back to see the wrecked boat that his family treasured so much. It's rusty and flaked red paint around the bow and the faded black lettering of _The Mantine_. He wished so much that his parents were here to see this.

But on this incredible Pokemon, steadily swimming towards the horizon, Hector felt the slightest pang of hope.

For hours, Hector glided through the water on top of the majestic creature, weary and starting to burn from the strong sunlight. He started to regret his decision to dive into the water... He had seen nothing. No land, no boats, no sign of anything on the horizon.

He was also becoming more and more anxious that the calm wailord would soon decide to dive down into the depths, either leaving him stranded or taking him down with it.

Another loud release of water from the wailord's blow-hole startled Hector, and felt it slowly arcing round to the right. It hadn't changed direction for hours, so _why now?,_ he thought.

Then in the distance, he spotted a small, hazy speck. The wailord changed course straight for it.

Hector began to breath heavily with excitement. It had to be land...

As they approached, he could see that it was exactly that; three tiny islets bunched together, completely alone in the middle of the ocean. He noticed a couple of trees spiking up from the sand and a lot of rocks. The tiny islands were probably no bigger than a football field each, and it was unlikely anyone would be there, but it was land. It was shade. It was possibly food.

The wailord edged Hector as close as it could without beaching itself in the shallow waters around the islands. This massive Pokemon had saved him... It had swam for miles, keeping him afloat, and took him straight to land. Sure it wasn't the mainland, but it still amazed Hector.

He braced himself for a short but icy swim to the islands and slid off the wailord's back into the water. He took one last look into its massive beady eye, ran his hand along the top of its head, and frantically splashed his way to shore.

He clawed his way onto the warm, grainy sand and heavily collapsed on to his back. He lifted his head and looked out to sea. He watched as the wailord let out a huge jet of water, then plunged itself down into the depths.

"Thank you!" Hector yelled after it, with relief and sadness in his heart.

The wailord had saved him from the boat, but he knew as he looked around at the small islands, he was far from safe here.


	3. Chapter 3

Hector shivered from his short dip in the freezing ocean. The sun was now setting and its warmth was dying out. He wearily trudged over to a small patch of green in the middle of the rocks and sand; three trees shooting out of the ground with other odd bushes around it.

The bushes were bare, just bramble-like plants with nothing edible on them. But he lifted his head towards the top of the trees were bunches of tiny berries. They were pale yellow, covered in green spots. Certainly not the most appetising-looking things he'd ever seen.

Without a regard to whether the berries were even edible, Hector shimmied up the rough bark of the tree with his last reserves of energy. He grabbed a bunch of the berries and jumped back down into the sand.

Still shaking with cold, he popped one of the berries in his mouth and, wincing at the horrible taste, gratefully swallowed it, his stomach giving a satisfied growl.

A sudden tingling burst of warmth shot through his body, all the way to the tips of his fingers and toes. He tried another, and felt the same warm sensation again.

Hector stopped shivering... He no longer felt the cold, as if it had been flushed out of his body.

So for the remainder of the evening, he sat at the trunk of the tree, every half hour or so munching on another berry, not feeling the bitter sea breeze in the slightest.

Now warm and not so hungry, the reality of the past days began to reveal itself in Hector's mind. He wept as the sun sank beneath the horizon for his lost parents, for Funa, for someone to at least rescue him and take him home, even if he'd be the only one left.

So to the sound of the waves sliding onto shore and the rustle of the leaves above him, he drifted off into yet another lonely nights sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

4

A cloud now hung over Slateport.

The usually vibrant docks were sombre; the Arnston's, despite having one of the smallest fishing boats in the fleet, were one of the most respected and loved crews.

A few optimistic residents still hoped that they would return or by found alive. But the more experienced sailors amongst them knew that two days late returning meant only one thing. The seas off Hoenn were vicious and unforgiving and everyone in Slateport knew of at least one boat that had been lost.

Captain Vokes, an experienced sailor with the navy and dock master, was tasked with addressing the local journalists and the residents of Slateport that the Arnstons were presumed dead.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he started, his often upbeat and booming tone now full of sadness, "As you will have heard, the Arnston's vessel _The Mantine_ has not returned back to Slateport docks. The navy and other fishing boats have been out searching for a number of days, but there has been no sight of her or the crew."

He paused and took in a deep breath.

"It is very likely that they were caught in the midst of an extremely strong storm monitored around eighty miles out to sea." He gave an almost undetectable shake of his head, remembering all the warnings he had given to the family about going so far out in such a small boat, although for years they brought some of the best quality goldeen and seaking he'd ever seen.

"We therefore... Have called off searches for the crew and the vessel..." He bit the inside of his lip to compose himself. "And presume them dead."

There were a few soft murmurs from the crowd, but they all knew that this announcement was coming.

"That is all," Vokes ended. He quickly walked back inside the old shipyard, away from the crowd, and sat in his office, still not wanting to believe that the Arnstons were gone.

He and Albert had been good friends, living in Slateport nearly all their lives, their fathers both fisherman. Albert had stuck to fishing, but Vokes had always aspired to be a navy Captain one day. Despite choosing different paths, they both loved the sea. The docks were there home and, when both on land, were rarely without each other.

His wife Elenor was one of the only women fishermen in the whole of Hoenn, and was a breath of fresh air around the docks next to the general demographic of burly, tattooed, grizzly men. Vokes himself was no exception to the stereotype.

Then he thought of the boy, Hector. He was fearless for his age. Although not related, Vokes was like an uncle to him. Having no kids of his own, he felt very fond of Hector. He and Albert taught him everything about the seas. He knew all the creatures, all the sea birds, all the names of the boats in the docks (and that was a lot).

He stared out at the yard, where Hector used to run around, messing with wrenches and junk, helping his father patch up _The Mantine._ With a deep sigh, he reached for one of the five Pokeballs on his desk and threw it to the floor, the ball flashing brightly and bouncing back into his hand.

His poliwhirl, Suji, appeared in front of him, fists clenched and on its toes.

"It's OK, Suji" he spoke softly, stroking the top of its head. "It's OK."

Suji relaxed, dropping its powerful fists to its side and trudging over to Vokes' side.

"I cant believe they're gone..." he whispered.


End file.
